The incidence of liver cancer is rising. Several studies looked at how effective the medical profession is doing at screening for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Conclusion:These three large studies (two in the U.S. and one in the Netherlands) concluded that surveillance is poor.

Editorial Comments:If you have cirrhosis or hepatitis B (with/without cirrhosis), talk to your doctor about HCC screening recommendations. In the U.S., screening includes imaging (ultrasound, CT, or MRI) every 6 months.

The incidence of liver cancer is rising. Several studies looked at how effective the medical profession is doing at screening for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Conclusion:These three large studies (two in the U.S. and one in the Netherlands) concluded that surveillance is poor.

Editorial Comments:If you have cirrhosis or hepatitis B (with/without cirrhosis), talk to your doctor about HCC screening recommendations. In the U.S., screening includes imaging (ultrasound, CT, or MRI) every 6 months.

Lucinda K. Porter, RN, is a long-time contributor to the HCV Advocate and author of “Free from Hepatitis C” and “Hepatitis C One Step at a Time.” She blogs at www.LucindaPorterRN.com and HepMag.com

AASLD 2016: Hepatitis C–Screening for Liver Cancer

It is recommended that people who have cirrhosis should be screened for liver cancer every 6 months. It is known that curing hepatitis C greatly reduces the risk of developing liver cancer in people with cirrhosis, but disease progression and liver cancer can still occur. This is why it is important that people with cirrhosis are screened.

But what is the actual practice of screening patients for liver cancer? A study out of Stanford University found that the actual rate of liver cancer monitoring is alarming. Of 2,916 patients that should be screened every 6 months only 18.9% were screened every 6 months; 17.0% were every 6 to 12 months; 18.6% were every 12 to 24 months; 21.1% were screened every 24 months or over a longer period of time, and 24.5% patients were never screened. The people who were most frequently monitored were those who came into the clinic and those who had decompensated cirrhosis.

Not surprisingly, patients with less frequent screening were diagnosed with more severe liver disease that led to complications that included:

Portal vein thrombosis (blockage of the vein that carries blood from the intestines to the liver). Portal vein thrombosis excludes people from obtaining a liver transplant.

Patients were less likely to meet the Milan or University of California of San Francisco criteria for receiving a liver transplant

Alan Franciscus is the Executive Director of the Hepatitis C Support Project and Editor-in-Chief of the HCV Advocate

Read the entire January 2017 edition of the HCV Advocate newsletter,click here